The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the most recent Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data several months earlier than usual. The early release of 2008 data represents a concrete action taken by the new EPA leadership to improve transparency following numerous pronouncements calling for such actions. The TRI database tracks releases and transfers of more than 650 toxic chemicals by facilities nationwide.

The data are in a preliminary, "raw" format, that is, they have undergone only a basic quality control check and the agency has performed no analysis of the data yet. This provides the public with an excellent opportunity to detect new trouble spots for releases of toxic chemicals, track trends, and identify facilities that have shown significant increases or decreases in their pollution. By receiving these data almost seven months earlier than usual, pressure can be brought sooner on companies that are performing poorly and solutions can be implemented faster. The public can also identify potential errors in the data before the EPA gets too far in their own analyses.

In a news release, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said, "While we are still analyzing this information, we hope this raw data will be reviewed and used responsibly by stakeholders and the public to help them make informed decisions." The agency intends to update the dataset in September and again in October, with the full analysis of 2008 data due in December 2009.

According to the agency, the preliminary data account for approximately 80 to 85 percent of the data to be collected. EPA is still processing paper submissions, late submissions, and working to resolve issues with the electronic submissions.

The EPA took seven weeks to compile the reports and run a basic data quality check before releasing the reports to the public. This is certainly an improvement over the eight months or more it historically has taken. By disclosing the data in this manner, reporting facilities have an added incentive to carefully track their releases and get the data right. EPA won't catch their mistakes before the public does.

The agency processes 85,000 to 105,000 TRI reports each year. Although only a small portion is submitted on paper, paper reports take a lot of time to process. EPA should require all facilities to report electronically via the Internet. The EPA's online reporting tool has built-in quality control features that reduce errors before the report is submitted. This could speed up the process even more, and more importantly, free up staff time that's better spent analyzing the data.

EPA has also provided a detailed guide to the data files that instructs users how to download the data and defines the data fields. Users can download 2008 data for individual states, for all federal facilities, or for the whole country.

Let the number crunching begin!